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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109362">If We Got Nothin' We Got Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wakandan_Shuri/pseuds/Wakandan_Shuri'>Wakandan_Shuri</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>40s, Alpine the Cat, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I am not a historian, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Period-Typical Racism, Protective Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Time Travel, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:13:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,654</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wakandan_Shuri/pseuds/Wakandan_Shuri</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Slight problem,” Sam began. “Fortunately, we’re still in New York.”</p><p>Steve could sense the bad news from a mile away. “It’s just not our New York. Or - well - all of ours really,” Bucky finished but was still glancing back to the entrance of the alley as if he were afraid someone would see them. </p><p>“What does that mean?” Steve questioned. </p><p>“I think we’re back in the ’40s, pal,” Bucky answered sadly. “I know we joked about coming back but, this isn’t exactly what I pictured,” he joked with no real humor behind it. Steve’s blood turned to ice. There was no way they could have come back. </p><p>Was there?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Background James Rhodes/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes &amp; Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers &amp; Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony Stark &amp; Sam Wilson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>84</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>If We Got Nothin' We Got Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i've been in this fandom for so long I cant believe its taken me this long to stark my first fic wow. i had to cave for this because no one else would show stevetony and sambucky friendships so I'll carry the fandom myself if I have to.<br/>BTW, in this Steve and tony have been married for about 2-3 years now, and sam and bucky have been dating for about a year and a half or so, but none of that matters since I dumped any parts of canon i don't want, or I might not mention it SO. e n j o y :)</p><p>Also the Title is from "Something I Need" by OneRepublic</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Tony.”</p><p> </p><p>“Five more minutes.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em>Tony. </em>”</p><p> </p><p>He looked up from where he was rearranging the gears in Bucky’s arm to make out the blurry figure of Steve wearing the Captain America Scowl Of Disapproval aimed at him, as Sam stepped into the workshop right behind him. </p><p> </p><p>“What’s going on?” Sam turned to ask Steve. Bucky and Sam had just gotten back from a four-day mission in Brazil, and Bucky’s arm had started malfunctioning when they were outrunning a cartel in the jungle, and it got snagged in the undergrowth in his rush. Sam knew it had been bothering him, and when they got back, Tony would fix it, so nothing looked out of the ordinary.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing!” Tony quickly defended as the other three residents looked up at him disbelievingly. Well, not Alpine. She was still sleeping undisturbed in Bucky’s lap while his arm was looked at. </p><p> </p><p>“Tony, it’s been over three days since you’ve left the lab to sleep.” And uh oh, Steve was crossing his arms at him. He thinks. It was getting more difficult to make out objects in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>“You still haven’t welcomed Sam or Buck back.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hi you two,” He smiled at them as they threw small waves at him and zeroed back in on his partner. “Bed, Tony.”</p><p> </p><p>James grinned up at the genius to whisper, “oh, there’s no way you’re gettin’ out of this. I’d accept defeat now.” </p><p> </p><p>“Now, when have you <em> ever </em> known me to make sensible decisions?” He smirked back down at the former Winter Soldier.</p><p> </p><p>“As far as I’m concerned, you assholes are <em> both </em> are incapable of doing that. Buck still has blood on his shoulder from earlier. Not from the mission. We got back, and he thought it would be funny to scare some new SHIELD agents, so he pretended to snap and broke a glass in the debrief, and a piece cut him.” </p><p> </p><p>“Still worth it. I’m pretty sure some of them wet themselves.” He didn’t look remorseful in the least.  </p><p> </p><p>“Tasha teach you that?” Tony questioned. </p><p> </p><p>“Damn betcha.” Bucky proudly stated.</p><p> </p><p>“Good on her,” he shot back. Steve was trying to hide a grin and still look serious, while Sam was much less composed. It was a well-known fact by now among the team and Fury that James Barnes and Tony Stark didn’t trust the intelligence organization in the slightest, and took every opportunity to terrorize unfamiliar agents. Natasha claimed she would reign them in but instead gave them more tips to freak the junior agents out.</p><p> </p><p>“Ok, Tony, playtime is over,” Steve broke in before they could start plotting anything that might have the four of them do any paperwork. Again.  </p><p> </p><p>“But Bucky-”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not that bad, Brat.” Bucky interrupted and set Alpine on the floor to wander around. “It’s ok, plus I’d feel a lot better if I knew you weren’t going to spontaneously pass out on me.”</p><p> </p><p>“Why were you down here this long anyway? Was it nightmares?” Sam couldn’t help but worry. Since bringing Bucky back from HYDRA’s control, Bucky had regularly seen a therapist, and in the past two years, he had been able to limit those visits. However, Tony still attended his own sessions more frequently, and every so often, his friend would show signs of slipping into bad habits that he had when they first met before Sam had suggested people to him. Sam was in no way a counselor for the team because he believed outside sources were far more beneficial, but he was still qualified enough to know when someone needed support. </p><p> </p><p>“Nah, nothing like that,” Tony smiled at his friend’s care and quickly reassured him. “It’s this new project I wanted to complete. Mostly because Clint said I could never do it, and now I’m starting to see I was played…” He trailed off as he looked at what seemed to be a large laser gun on a stand and shrugged. Alpine was trailing around the large device in the corner and hopped onto the table beside the new object in the lab. </p><p> </p><p>Steve smiled at Tony’s antics and wrapped his arms around his husband’s waist. “Come upstairs with me. Arm can wait. Right, Buck?” He looked at his childhood friend for agreement.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure thing, pal. Just let him close up the plates.” As they started on that, Alpine began knocking over items on the crowded workbench across the lab out of boredom. </p><p> </p><p>Tony sealed up the last plate on his arm and stretched. “Alright. It should be ok for now, just avoid any gymnastics or jumping off things until I get back.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know we had the misfortune of falling for the only two people on the planet that can’t promise that, right?” Sam snarked.</p><p> </p><p>“Which is why I count on you to make sure your boyfriend doesn’t die.” He turned to put his tools away.</p><p> </p><p>“I could say the same thing to Steve.” Tony mocked looking offended, and put a hand over his reactor. </p><p> </p><p>“I can handle myself just fine. I <em> was </em> Iron Man before the Avengers--”</p><p> </p><p>“Nat and Rhodey told us you were giving away your stuff because you were dying and didn’t want to tell anyone.” Sam looked unconvinced, but his eyes were alight with humor at watching his sleep-deprived friend look for a remark and go through about nine facial expressions, but before he could answer, JARVIS cut in, “Device Activated.”</p><p> </p><p>They all stood around the workbench, confused until Tony spotted the fluffy white paw on top of a large button that was now lit up, with the ray beside it powering on.</p><p> </p><p>Tony managed to mutter an “uh oh” before the lab exploded in white light.</p><p> </p><p>-----------</p><p> </p><p>Steve woke up and pushed himself slowly off the concrete, feeling like the worst hangover, which wasn’t too far from the truth, considering he’s rarely ever even <em>had </em>a hangover in the first place. He heard groaning next to him and noticed Bucky and Sam were hauling themselves up too. Steve looked around more and saw Tony was on the floor of the alley out cold. Somehow energy came back to him, and he was at his husband’s side in an instant checking for a pulse and exhaled in relief when he found what he was looking for.</p><p> </p><p>Sam was leaning into Buckys side as he righted himself, but otherwise, both of them seemed unharmed. “You two alright?” He asked, just to be sure his team - his friends, <em> his family </em> - were ok.</p><p> </p><p>“We’re good,” Bucky breathed. “But how the hell did we <em> get </em> here?”</p><p> </p><p>Sam no longer needed support but didn’t leave Bucky’s side as he added, “and where the hell is here anyway.” The three of them looked at their surroundings, which weren’t much to go off of. It looked like they were dumped in some random alley with no recollection of how they ended up here. Last Steve could recall, his friends had gotten back from their mission, and Sam was telling him how it went when he noticed it was dark out, and he went to find Tony when he realized he should have surfaced hours ago. They spent some time in the lab. Then the cat is standing over a button on the table. Then… nothing. Just a grungy alleyway in the city. He’s not sure <em>which </em>city yet, but the area where he looked out from the alley seemed familiar for a reason Steve couldn’t quite place.</p><p> </p><p>He looked back down at Tony and tried to wake him up with only a few mumbled sounds. “Tony dear, come on, I need you here. We have to move.” He wasn’t sure exactly where they were going to go considering none of them knew where they <em>are</em>, but anything had to be better than the floor of a highly unsanitary backway. “Love, you gotta get up, that’s it,” he coaxed as Tony blinked up at him, with Steve running his fingers through the brunette’s curls.</p><p> </p><p>Tony muttered something incoherent as Steve helped lift him off the ground, and Tony began to wake up more when Bucky and Sam were walking back towards the couple wearing matching expressions of shock that didn’t sit right with Steve once he noticed.</p><p> </p><p>“Slight problem,” Sam began. “Fortunately, we’re still in New York.”</p><p> </p><p>Steve could sense the bad news from a mile away. “It’s just not <em>our </em> New York. Or - well - all of ours really,” Bucky finished but was still glancing back to the entrance of the alley as if he were afraid someone would see them. </p><p> </p><p>“What does that mean?” Steve questioned. </p><p> </p><p>“I think we’re back in the ’40s, pal,” Bucky answered sadly. “I know we joked about coming back but, this isn’t exactly what I pictured,” he joked with no real humor behind it. Steve’s blood turned to ice. There was no way they could have come back. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Was there? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Tony started shaking beside him, and one look at the genius, and he knew he was panicking. Steve began to rub Tony’s shoulders, but there wasn’t much he could say or do to calm him when he was freaking out himself. They were sent back with no idea how to get home or even if they could. Sure, he grew up here, and so had Bucky, so at least it isn’t completely foreign as waking up seventy years into the future. </p><p><br/>
 Sure, late at night, Steve and Bucky would reminisce the old days, and consider how much people and technology have changed over time, but that never meant they wanted to go <em>back </em>. But now, as he shared a long look with Bucky, he saw it. Here, Steve wasn’t married or even allowed to be with Tony. Here, Tony could not be seen with a glowing blue circle in his chest. Here, Bucky wasn’t allowed to date Sam. Here, Bucky couldn’t show off his arm. They were trapped in the 1940s with no resources and no foreseeable way out.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I just love Alpine so much &lt;3<br/>follow/DM me on insta for any suggestions!!!</p><p>I will try to update regularly and yall shouldn't have to worry that much since my schedule fr is so clear right now for the next few weeks its insane. I'm thinking 2-3 times a week.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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